


Saving You

by spunkyspark



Category: Original Work
Genre: Eventual Fluff, F/F, Lesbian Character, Original Character(s), Slow Build
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-09
Updated: 2015-06-28
Packaged: 2018-04-03 15:58:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4106662
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spunkyspark/pseuds/spunkyspark
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is an original work about two women: one an EMT, the other a High school teacher. I suck at summaries, partially because I'm not entirely sure where it will take me, but basically it is about their lives. Rated T for now, might change in later chapters.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time writing and publishing anything, so please be patient and feel free to comment/suggest improvements!
> 
> Also, this story has a F/F endgame, so if you don't like that, please don't read it :)
> 
> These first few chapters are setting up a lot so it's a slow build.

**Riley**

It was two o’ clock in the afternoon and I had been going nonstop since arriving at seven this morning. Only five more hours, I could do this. I walked across the station to my bunk and flopped down, not bothering to get underneath the covers or take my shoes off. Joey, one of my partners, climbed up to his bunk.

“It’s been one hell of a day hasn’t it, Riley?” he said as he got comfy.

“Mmhmm” I replied before starting to doze off.

Scott, our other partner put his head into the sleeping quarters not ten minutes later. “Rise and shine sleeping beauties, dispatch just called. There is a kid at Jefferson High that apparently had a Grand Mal and needs transported. I stood up and rubbed my eyes grabbing my bag and heading with Joey to the back of the ambulance. When we arrived at the school we buzzed in and headed up to the office. Since it was close to the end of the school day the office was swamped with parents asking questions, students needing passes, and the secretary’s short blonde hair was a mess. There were students waiting to be heard, the janitor was being paged for someone who had thrown up on the floor and I could hear the principal having a lively discussion about what proper behavior was with a student.

The secretary looked up and saw us. “Miss Caprio’s room 218, it’s the science wing – up the stairs and to the left”. We walked up to 218. There was a strange silence that made me think we had the wrong room. We peeked in the room. All thirty or so students were reading quietly as if nothing had been going on. The teacher, who appeared to be in her mid-twenties, was in the back of the room leaning over one of the students. We moved towards the back of the classroom. She looked up and smiled at me, and took my breath away.

“Hi, um, Danny was just sitting here and blacked out and fell out of his chair and then had a seizure. He was flailing around quite a bit. I just kept him on his side. He still doesn’t know what is going on. I called his parents and they said they’re going to meet you at the hospital”

She seemed really calm for all that had gone on and she didn’t have a hair out of place. I glanced over at Scott and Joey who were putting Danny onto a backboard. I looked at the teacher trying to focus “Miss…um…” I began “Caprio” she replied. “Miss Caprio, are you ok?”

She smiled at me and it was as if we were the only two people in the room. “Yeah, I’m fine. I didn’t really get hit much. It was more of a surprise than anything. As far as I know, that’s never happened to him before, but I guess this is my first year teaching here so who knows.” I smiled back, glad that she had somehow related my unplanned question to the situation.

“Alright then, we will be on our way.” I looked into her beautiful brown eyes. “Hope the rest of your day is uneventful” I said as I opened the door for Scott and Joey and we headed to take Danny to the hospital.

At the end of my shift Scott, Joey, and some of the guys from the station came up to me as I was gathering my things. “Hey pretty lady” Joey said with a grin nearly ear to ear and dodged the punch I had aimed for his shoulder. “A bunch of us are going out for dinner and possibly a drink because our families have already had dinner. You wanna come? We’re going to Gio’s”.

I grabbed my bag and laughed. I really just wanted to sleep but I would need to eat and I didn’t feel like making anything. “Yeah, count me in.” Dinner was good. Gio’s was this wonderful Italian place that didn’t serve one dish that was less than excellent. It was nice to hang out with the guys even though one of the guys that worked as a firefighter at the station kept trying to strike up a conversation with me and asked if he could buy me a drink. I drove us back to the station because the guys had all had a few drinks. All of us lived relatively near to the station. I lived across the street from the station. The guys weren’t drunk, just a bit tipsy, so I let them walk home by themselves and walked up to the porch of my house. I went to the kitchen and got a glass of sweet red wine and sat on the sofa in my living room with my laptop, checking emails. It was only nine fifteen, but I was exhausted and tomorrow night I started my second shift of the week, a twenty-four hour shift starting at seven. I shut down my computer, washed the wine glass, and got ready for bed. I lay in bed for an hour, staring at the ceiling, my brain going over everything that had happened today: the car accidents, the gunshot wounds, the transports from the nursing homes, the injuries from the fire at the hardware store on Roosevelt, the beautiful teacher at Jefferson High. I smiled thinking of Miss Caprio, secretly thanking Danny for having that seizure in her class instead of someone else's as I drifted to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**Allie**

I was sitting at my desk grading my AP Biology classes’ exams on cellular development and eating my lunch when there was a knock on the door even though it was open. It was Sharon Holtz, the science teacher that had been assigned as my mentor for the first few years teaching at Jefferson. I had forgotten that it was Thursday, and that meant we had our weekly meeting during lunch. I guess the papers would have to wait until my prep period at two.

“Hello Mrs. Holtz, come on in, make yourself at home” I said as I grabbed my lunch and headed for the lab table that Sharon was settling in at.

“So...” she said as she grabbed her lunch from her bag “what has your week been like?”

“Not too bad” I replied with a smirk. “I only had two fights in my hallway so far this week. The tests that I have graded for my AP class have been great. My general class has been doing really well too. It’s been good to get to know them a little more. It is amazing what some of them have been through, yet they still come to school.”

She smiled “I heard you had quite the fun Tuesday”

I finished eating my carrot stick “mmhmm, I had a student have a Grand Mal, the EMT’s had to come. Luckily the class was really great. They just started doing an independent reading when I asked. I had a roommate in college that had seizures a lot so I kind of knew what to do.”

“And, what about lessons? What is your next unit on?” Mrs. Holtz inquired. I began to tell her about the next unit I had planned on Mitosis and all of the activities and labs to go along with it. I knew what the next question was going to be and I was dreading it. I was praying that a student would need me, I would get paged to the office, that someone would pull the fire alarm. As if clockwork, Mrs. Holtz replied “well, it seems that you are doing well with adjusting to the school academically and with the differences associated with large city schools. How are you doing personally? I know you didn’t grow up in the area. Are you making friends? Do you have roommates? You aren’t married; do you have a boyfriend or love interest? How are you socially?”

She asked this every week and I still didn’t really know how to respond. The question made me nervous, made me feel like I was hiding something.

“Well, um, I think I’m adjusting alright. I’ve been hanging out with Justin and Jayla from the math department and with Addison from the Spanish department. I’m here from six in the morning ‘til four thirty five days a week so I don’t have a lot of time for all of that. Right now I’m living with a roommate from college in a house. It’s been good to have her around for some familiarity, you know?”

Sharon smiled “Do you have a romantic interest?”

I sighed, praying that the bell would ring. “Um, no I can’t say that I do. Sorry I know that isn’t very fun. I’ve just been focusing on my job and stuff. My roommate and I are throwing a party this weekend though, so that should be a good chance for me to meet someone.”

The bell rang and students began yelling in the hall. “Looks like I have to go do hall duty. Thanks so much for dropping by and checking in Sharon. Have a good weekend.” I said as I walked to my door, finally breathing at a normal rate. After the final bell of the school day rang at three thirty and my students had scurried out the door I went to the closet and got my lab coat, gloves and scalpel kit. I pulled out one of the frogs from the supply room and began to prepare it as a dissection model for tomorrow. I had finished the entry incisions and was working on using pins to label organs when the intercom in the corner of my room buzzed to life.

“Miss Caprio” the secretary seemed to yell.

“Yes, Mrs. Hayden” I replied.

“You have a visitor here to see you”.

Who would be here to visit me? My roommate Erin was still at work and I hadn’t really met anyone else since arriving here to teach.

“Send them up. Thank you Mrs. Hayden.”

I was placing the last pin in the liver when there was a knock at the door. I finished placing it and told my visitor to come in. The door opened and there was a woman, about 5’4 with shoulder length blonde hair and vibrant green eyes staring back at me. I took off my gloves and headed towards the waste basket near the door. “Sorry for the smell” I said with a smile. “Dissections start tomorrow and there really isn’t a way to get around the smell of formaldehyde.” I was now about three feet away from this beautiful woman who walked into my room. She looked really familiar, but I couldn’t place where I had seen her. Maybe she was a parent? Or maybe an administrator that I hadn’t formally met yet? She smiled back. “No worries. I’m an EMT I’m used to weird smells.” She said with a laugh.

“So, this might be a bit presumptuous and I might make an ass out of myself but since I saw you the other day I haven’t been able to quit thinking about you-not in a creepy way. It’s just most of my co-workers at the station are guys, which is great you know, they’re great, but with my hours and stuff it’s hard to meet people close to my age unless you want to hang out at a bar and that's not really my scene, ugh, anyway, I was just wondering if you might want to hang out sometime." She looked up at the ceiling “Ah, I ramble when I’m nervous, sorry. You know what? it was silly for me to come here. I’ll just leave.” She began to turn towards the door.

“Wait” I called out. “Sorry, my brain is a little slow at processing today, probably the fumes.” I made sure to look into her eyes. “I would love to hang out sometime. I’m tied here from six to four thirty Monday through Friday during the school week but other than that I’m pretty much free. Um, my roommate and I are having a party this weekend. I’m not much of a party person, and if I remember correctly, she definitely was in college. I don’t really know what to expect, but if you want to come you should. It is Saturday at seven.”

She looked at me, smiled and nodded her head slightly “that sounds good”. I didn’t realize that I had been holding my breath until I exhaled after she replied. Ok, I just invited a really attractive woman to a party at my house. The fumes really must be messing with me. I walked over to my desk and began writing then walked over to her.

“Here is my number, and my address. I’m looking forward to seeing you there.” She took the paper, read it and smiled, looking up at me. Her green eyes were piercing through me and it suddenly felt warmer in the room.

“Alright, I should probably get heading to work. Thanks.”

Keeping eye contact with her I replied “I don’t believe I got your name?” She looked down at the floor as she gently kicked her foot on the floor.

“Right, I am Riley Winters” she extended a hand to me and I grabbed it to shake. Her skin was so soft.

“Allison Caprio, you can call me Allie”. We stood there with our hands still enclosed for longer than we probably should have. The detention bell ringing broke the spell we were in. Riley chuckled. “It was nice to meet you, Allie” she said, and was out the door before I could reply.


	3. Chapter 3

**Riley**

I walked out of the school to my jeep and sat with my head on the steering wheel. What was I thinking!? I just asked a woman to hang out who I’m not even sure feels the same way I do? Ugh, what if she’s not gay? Or worse yet, what if she is? She is going to think I’m a total creep for asking her to hang out when only meeting her for a few minutes with a freaking seizing kid between us! I am such an idiot! I looked at the clock on my radio. It was four forty-five. I had to be at work at seven. I drove home in a daze trying not to think about what it was that I had just done. I arrived at home and slumped onto the sofa. My brain would not shut off. It just kept repeating my stupidity over and over. When it was finally close enough to my shift I walked across the street to the station. Joey was at his bunk when I walked in and put my stuff down. He looked at me, his brown eyes which normally gave me comfort just made me think of Allie’s eyes and feel even more stupid.

“You okay Winters? You look like you’ve had a long day.” He said with a smile. None of the guys at the station knew that I was gay. I didn’t have a girlfriend, so I never figured it was worth the risk of losing my job. It was like when I was in the military: don’t ask, don’t tell. Most of them were married with kids anyway so they weren’t interested. I got teased a lot since I was one of the few women at the station, but it was all fun and out of love. I gave it right back to them too. I realized that Joey was waiting for an answer. I sat on my bunk and looked up at him.

“Crushes and dating just suck.” I replied. He looked down to me, “They do, but if that guy is stupid enough to lose you then he’s not worth having around, Riley.” Of course he would just assume that I wanted a relationship with a man, he had no reason to believe otherwise. I nodded my head, wishing I could have a drink, and went to go turn in my paperwork from my last shift. If he thought I was straight and he works with me every day then she probably did too. But there was something there, wasn’t there? That attraction that makes the world go in slow motion, that makes you lose your breath and makes your brain all foggy. Was it just me? Maybe I should call her. Tell her that I’m a lesbian and ask if she still wanted me to go to the party tomorrow. Although, that might make it seem like I was just after a relationship or sex and that was the last thing I needed right now. I turned in the papers to the chief’s desk and decided I would just have to wait until tomorrow to find out where this would all go. I would rather have her as a friend or acquaintance than not have her in my life at all. On my way to the meeting room the fire siren went off and Joey and I volunteered to follow the trucks. Joey hopped into the driver’s seat and I got into the passenger side. The flu had been going around the station and we were short handed so it was just the two of us.“The fire is on Fourth and Madison” he said as we pulled out of the station behind the fire trucks with the lights flashing and the sirens blaring.

Keeping his eyes on the road ahead he asked again “You okay Riley? After we triage I can let you drive and I can work in the back”. I knew what he meant. Fire calls were often times tough to handle. You never know how many people there will be injured. Sometimes the injuries are none, sometimes there are just smoke inhalation injuries, and sometimes there are deaths or third degree burns with screaming victims. Responding to a fire call was always a surprise. If you weren’t completely focused on the task at hand then it was easy to make mistakes that could mean lost lives. “Yeah, I’m good. You can drive, Joey. I graduated first in my class and I was a medic in the military. I can shut my brain off to get my work done.” He nodded as we pulled up to the house that was burning. The firefighters began their work at putting out the fire and I jumped out of the front, grabbing my bag and running toward the front lawn where the residents were standing with Joey right behind me. There was a group of people by the sidewalk. We walked up to them. Joey stopped right behind me. I looked closer and saw an older woman talking with one of the fireman. There was a man, a woman and two kids huddled around a girl that appeared to be about fifteen or sixteen. I went up to the girl who was lying on the ground. The mom began telling me that the girl was at the stove when the fire started and as a result she got the brunt of the injuries. The girl had passed out, which was fairly common for burns. They are really painful so usually the patients are screaming their heads off or passed out. I began to check for a pulse as Joey grabbed the backboard. She had a pulse and we gently transferred her to the backboard and loaded her into the back. Joey ran to the front and I helped the mother of the girl into the back, telling the rest of the family that they would have to drive to the hospital. I began treating the girl’s visible wounds and checking vitals. Joey hadn’t said a word the whole time we were at the house and was driving a little faster than normal considering that the girl had a pretty steady pulse. I was filling out a chart for the girl when the mother burst into tears. She had blonde hair like her daughter, only her’s was greying in spots. “She’s going to be okay right? I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if she won’t be. We were fighting right before the fire.” I looked at the woman. I always hated answering this question. I didn't want to give false hope or play God, because this job taught me that I don't get to choose who lives and who dies. I also feel the need to be sensitive to those things though too. I already have one patient, I don't need another due to a panic attack. I continued checking vitals and took a deep breath. “It’ll be a long recovery but she should be fine. She seems like a fighter, ma’am. We are doing everything we can and the doctors will do absolutely everything they can to get her back to normal as soon as possible. And, it’s actually not a bad thing that she passed out. Burns are really painful so it's for the best. Her pulse is pretty strong. Depending on how bad the burns are below the surface the doctors will either treat it and clean it and send you home or if it’s really bad they might do a skin graft. I have definitely seen worse” I told her. I couldn’t help feeling a pang of jealousy for this girl. Her parents still cared.

We dropped the girl and her mother off at the E.R. and headed back to the station. This time I drove, taking my time. Joey still hadn’t spoken a word. “Joe, you okay? You’re being awfully quiet.” He didn’t respond as we pulled into the station. The rest of the night was pretty slow so we cleaned the trucks and the station, filled out all of our paperwork for the night and then went to our bunks. We had two hours left of our shift and it seemed as if most of the neighborhood was asleep. Joey and I each went to our bunks. The other crews were bouncing a basketball in the next room. The constant sound of it hitting the concrete floor was rhythmic and I thought it might put me to sleep when I heard Joey call my name from his bunk. I responded to him. I could tell from his voice he was still laying down looking at the ceiling so I stayed lying on my bunk. “Riley, you sometimes wear an Army shirt when we work out. You were in the Army weren’t you?” This was an odd question,he knew I had been in the Army. We didn't talk about it a lot, but it had come up before. “Yeah, I joined when I was eighteen and did tours ‘til I was twenty five. The last two years I’ve been on IRR. In six months they won’t own me anymore, unless I sign up again. I did pretty much the same thing I do here there, just with less equipment and people shooting at our camps.” I heard him sigh. This was so unusual for Joey, the happy go lucky guy that always made me love my job even more. “I am thinking about joining." He paused for a minute. I was thinking of what I wanted to say when he continued. "I found out Jen was cheating on me and I just want to get away from this damn place that makes me think of it every single day. I filed divorce papers this morning. I don't know, I just need to not be reminded.”

 I stared up at his bunk above me, playing with the military ID bracelet on my wrist. I exhaled audibly, “Joey, you are still young. You don’t have any kids. You are damn good at your job and from what I can tell, you love it. As for the Army it’s true that they could use you and it’s ultimately your choice but don’t go enlist just to run away from your problems. I did that and I can tell you from experience it doesn’t work. Your problems follow you everywhere, even into a war. I don't regret a moment of my time serving. So, if you really want to join, do it, but if you’re doing it to run away, don’t. It's not the kind of profession you choose for the hell of it. You have to want it, or you'll be miserable every second of every day. You could stay here and find a wife and have kids if that’s the life you want to have, Joey. Don’t give up hope and cut all your ties here just because your wife is a dumb-ass.”

I heard Joey move and saw him hop down from his bunk and sit on the edge of mine. I sat up, giving him more room. “Would you marry me if you didn’t have a prospect guy to crush over?” he asked. Before I could think, I responded “Joey, you are a wonderful guy. You are smart, and funny, and good looking. You have a job you love and you look out for those who you care for. If I weren’t gay I would totally marry you. You are a catch, you know that right?” Ah, crap, crap crap. I looked at Joey to see how he would react to my careless words. He had a grin from ear to ear. “A catch huh?” He said laughing. I couldn’t help but to join him.


End file.
